Consumption of food supplements of physical activity practitioners within fitness centers

Abstract

Given the media popularization of slim and muscular bodies, people have increasingly sought fitness centers and used food supplements wrongly, from unskilled indications that may lead to health problems such as organ overloads, cancer and problems within the kidney and liver. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of dietary supplements for individuals practicing physical activity in gyms in the city of Montes Claros-MG. A survey was conducted in October 2016, in which was applied a questionnaire containing 22 questions about the use of food supplements and the profile of the three gym goers. The sample consisted of 100 individuals, in which 39.0% are women and 61.0% are men aged between 18 and 55 years. Of these, 65.0% are users of nutritional supplements. The most consumed supplements were the ones of protein base. The main aim of such supplementation was health and muscle hypertrophy. In 36.9% of cases, the use of supplements was made on the user's own initiative, and the monthly amount of money spent on them was R$ 101.00 to 300.00 (33.8%). There was a high consumption of the supplement assessed, and most of them were used by the user's own initiative, thus showing the need for nutritionists in the gyms to develop a proper nutrition education.